Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft Surface won’t be launching until October, but the company is wasting no time in getting the ball rolling on the next generation of Surface devices. A dozen Microsoft job ads have been discovered by TechRadar, and they’re all related in one way or another to future iterations of Surface. Microsoft, for its part, maintains that the only Surface devices are the two tablets that have been announced, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t planning for the future.

Microsoft should be planning for the future too, since the tablet industry moves at a breakneck pace. If Microsoft wants to compete with the big boys, it’s going to need to be offering new things at a pretty fast rate, which is precisely why it has put these job ads out. The job ads were posted between June and August of this year, and include positions like component specialists, mechanical engineers, and materials experts.

In other words, Microsoft isn’t planning to merely update Surface, but to build new products in the Surface line. We already knew that Microsoft was planning to make Surface into a family of products, and it looks as if the company is already beginning to work toward that. These job ads all say “We are currently building the next generation and Surface needs you!” so Microsoft’s intentions seem pretty clear.

So there you go – we may all be anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first Surface, but Microsoft is already gearing up for the next generation. Don’t expect Microsoft to explain these job ads anytime soon, as the company will definitely want to keep any work on the next devices in the Surface line as secret as possible. We’ll update you when new information surfaces, but for now, just know that Microsoft is taking this Surface deal very seriously.

Microsoft already hiring for next generation Surface is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Acer executives have criticized Microsoft’s decision to build its own tablet in the past, but now the firm’s CEO has offered Redmond a more direct warning. “We have said [to Microsoft] think it over,” Acer CEO JT Wang told the Financial Times. “Think Twice. It will create a huge negative impact for the ecosystem and other brands may take a negative reaction.” Microsoft has acknowledged Surface’s potential to frustrate its OEM partners, telling the Security and Exchange Commission that competing directly with manufactures might “affect their commitment” to the firm’s platform. Not only does Wang agree with this admission, he seems worried that Microsoft will cause this damage for nothing. “It is not something you are good at,” he continued, “so please think twice.” Polite, but a bit bold. Then again, Acer has never been shy about telling Microsoft exactly what it thinks.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

CE-Oh no he didn’t!: Acer’s JT Wang tells Microsoft to ‘think twice’ about Surface originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 01:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft is taking quite a risk by producing and releasing its own Windows 8-based tablet. While the company maintains that it isn’t trying to compete with its OEM partners, Acer has been vocal about the move, with reports also indicating that manufacturers weren’t exactly thrilled with the Surface announcement. In a new document submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission discovered by the New York Times, Microsoft admitted that the releases of its own tablet could weaken support among its Windows partners.

Microsoft details in the document how its “Surface devices will compete with products made by our OEM partners, which may affect their commitment to our platform.” Microsoft maintains that Surface is meant to spur interest in Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets, although OEMs were miffed by the announcement as they reportedly had no foreknowledge of the event.

Not only that, Microsoft allegedly met with various OEMs to check in on their tablet plans, revealing the Surface a few short weeks later, perhaps a subtle dig at the plans that partners had for their own hardware. Microsoft’s way of handling the situation has reportedly left partners with a bad taste in their mouths, although plenty of hardware from the likes of ASUS and Samsung remains on track for a release later in the year.

[via Engadget]

Microsoft admits that Surface may hurt partner relations is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re a fan of Microsoft and are looking forward to the company’s Surface line of tablets launching so you can get your hands on one, a new rumor has surfaced that may make you wince. According to this new rumor, the Surface tablets are going to be insanely expensive. A website from Sweden posted all four Surface tablet models along with pricing.

Where exactly the Swedish website came by its retail prices is unknown, and these could simply be guesses. However, when you convert the prices to US dollars the cheapest tablet works out to about $1000. The most expensive version of the tablet would be more than twice that much.

Microsoft is certainly proud of its products, and these prices may be accurate. However, these prices are way out of line with the rest of the tablet market. If Microsoft wants any chance of competing against the iPad with its new Surface tablets, it needs lower pricing. Take these prices with a huge grain of salt; they seem too high to believe. What do you think? Would Microsoft charge $1000 for each cheapest Surface tablet? Perhaps an insanely high price is the way Microsoft will capitulate to hardware partners who were angry it was getting into the hardware business.

Update: Thankfully this is a case of placeholder pricing, not Microsoft’s official numbers. Webhallen tells Techie Buzz that in fact the pricing was plucked from thin air so that it could populate its pre-order pages:

“Our customers are very interested in pre-ordering these products, so we have set a high preliminary pricing for the lineup so that they may be able to pre-order them.

Just to clarify, we have not recieved any pricing from Microsoft regarding MRSP or purchasing net cost, and any people who have booked the Surface at this high price will of course have their order adjusted before any product is shipped. So we’re not going to overcharge anyone for being an early adopter.”

[via TheNextWeb]

Rumor points to cheapest Microsoft Surface tablet starting at $1000 [Update: Phew, nope!] is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The importance of Office 2013 to Microsoft’s bottom line can’t be understated, and yet the company faces no small amount of ridicule amid questions of whether the productivity suite is “relevant” any longer. With Windows 8 fast approaching, and long-standing arguments over whether tablets are for content creation or merely consumption, Office or its Metro-styled MX variant for Windows RT slates hasn’t necessarily proved the selling point Microsoft may have hoped it might. The company already has that wildcard, though, and it’s been fermenting away under Microsoft’s nose for a decade.

The reaction to Office 2013 – perhaps best described as “a necessary evil” – has been muted if only because it’s tough to get especially excited over word processing, spreadsheet, email and (take a deep breath) presentation software. Microsoft’s Metro UI is a nice touch, and in fact it’s been responsible (along with Office 365 and its cloud ambitions) for most of the positive chatter around the suite. Still, it’s tough to be too enthused when even Microsoft’s attention is elsewhere.

Microsoft is obviously more excited about tablets running Windows 8 than it is about regular desktops or notebooks. Slates may be expected to contribute to a minority of sales overall, but they’re attention-grabbing and – many assume – the future of computing, and so they get over-emphasized in Microsoft’s strategy. That’s already prompted the company to challenge its own OEMs with Surface, no less.

What it needs is the perfect software foil to go with that; something which not only demonstrates how ambitiously segment-stealing Surface is, but how Microsoft is pushing tableteering into segments iOS (and, to a lesser extent, Android) has only partially catered for.

“The sliding panes of Metro make perfect sense for a digital notebook”

OneNote MX could well be that “killer app”. Microsoft’s digital notetaking tool has been bubbling away since the Windows XP days, but it’s with tablets broaching the mainstream that it’s finally ready for primetime. The preview that arrived in the Windows Store today is a good example of why. The sliding panes of Metro make perfect sense for leaves in a digital notebook, as does the Snap View split-screen layout that will allow, Courier-style, two apps to share Windows tablet screen-space simultaneously. (In fact, OneNote MX is crying out for a forward-thinking OEM to slap a couple of 7-inch screens together and do what Microsoft proved too gutless to attempt: give all those Courier enthusiasts the dual-display folding slate they were begging for.)

The radial pop-up menu is a perfect example of a UI that’s been percolating away in some third-party iOS apps, but which could tip over into the mainstream if Microsoft plays OneNote right. Sized to suit both fingertip and stylus control, it’s a simple and convenient hub for common controls and takes a welcome step away from the long, narrow strips of traditional Microsoft toolbars. Less sweeping sideways movement in favor of smaller, more contained button options.

If reaction to Office 2013 has proved anything, it’s that people don’t really care if their content creation tools are in the cloud, or local, or some hybrid of the two. What prompts enthusiasm is when the tools on offer are usable and intuitive: when they suit the device and the way it’s used. Microsoft has woefully underutilized OneNote in the past, but the time is ripe for the app to take its place as the hub of Windows content creation.

OneNote MX should be Microsoft’s Windows 8 content creation hub is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.